hey guys,
I often need to move objects,especially lights and niagara actors, along a specific direction, but the pivot ie. gizmo isn’t aligned with how I want to move them. So I end up fiddling with X and Y manually, which is super inefficient.
For static meshes, I found a way. In Modeling Mode, under xForm, there’s an Edit Pivot option. I use that to rotate the pivot how I want, switch to Local transform, and works… I can move it exactly along the direction I need. Here’s a video showing what I mean with a clean example.
But when I try the same thing with lights (like a directional light), the Edit Pivot option isn’t available. So I’m stuck guessing at X/Y movements just to move a light along a clean line.
So, Is there any way to rotate or realign the gizmofor lights or any non-mesh actors so that I can move them more easily along any desierd axis?I tried rotate the objects and move them but yeah then i have to unrotate them, very ineffecient way…
Yes technically you could create a tool that allows you to create custom gizmos using the geometry scripting toolkit. I think you will find though that it saves you very little time and is not worth the effort. Even after you build the tool, you will still have to specify what direction you want your gizmo to face. At that point, you’re better off just using the local transform method.
I suppose if you find rotating and un-rotating an object to be a hassle, you could create a little editor utility that saves the rotation of your selected actor, then reapplies that rotation once you’re done moving it. I suspect this will be a better solution.
Let me know if you want to try these methods and I can walk you through setting them up.
Thanks for the advice Sarah. I think I will stick for what is there by rotating and moving. In case, It really become impossible to handle, I might consider one of the other options you mentioned.
I recall having a similar problem to this when I very first started.
Can I perhaps recommend something? If you’re working with an empty map, and you rotate the first few things you drop into the level, you’ll spend the whole of the rest of the time trying to drag things in a direction they don’t want to go
It’s much easier to leave things ( initially ) at their default rotation and go from there, just working in line with the XY grid. ( I mean if you’re making a room, just leave it aligned on the default axis ).
